Andre Drummond: The Next Big Thing……For Real

I went on Hiatus, but I’m back to say what I did before on this blog. Andre Drummond is the next big man to make his mark on the NBA. You heard me. I didn’t say Demarcus Cousins or Anthony Davis. I’m not riding those bandwagons because I see a spark and an innovative game from the young athlete that spent only one year at UConn before being the  ninth pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.

Andre Drummond stands at 7 feet tall and moves unbelievably swift for someone who weighs 280 pounds. In the preseason, he averaged 19.6 points, 12.8 rebound and three blocks per 36-minutes and showed a little bit of his mid-range jumper in the summer league. His weakness would probably be his free throws and staying out of foul trouble, as he picked up four fouls in the first half against the Miami Heat in the preseason. The fact of the matter is, he is 19 years old and the potential looks universally high. He has the athleticism of Dwight Howard and Deandre Jordan with the quickness of a guard.  

Let me take a second to compare him to his rookie adversary Anthony Davis. Davis averaged 13.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per 32 minutes. Their statistics are quite similar. They both suck at the free throw line, but as far as efficiency goes, Drummond’s field goal percentage is impressive at 62% for the preseason compared to Davis’s on average 45 percent. I would also like to add that Drummond is about 60 pounds heavier and has more of an NBA ready body and trust me, we’ve seen a player such as Lebron James, who is a beastly specimen, dominate a linky player like Kevin Durant to lead his team to a championship.

I will put all my limbs on the line and say that if Andre Drummond becomes a starter in the NBA, he will be an all-star and be a more dominating big man then Anthony Davis, Demarcus Cousins and all these big men that are overly hyped. Lawrence Frank is most likely going to start Jason Maxiell over him (I don’t know why), but he is the next superstar big man. Mark my words.

Check out this inspirational video that shows highlights of the big man’s impressive preseason.

A Legend Becoming an Even Greater Legend: Mike Krzyzewski

In his 37th season as a college basketball head coach, "coach k" Mike Krzyzewski will tonight if not already, make his mark as the greatest college basketball coach in history.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose name's pronunciation is just as difficult to figure out as trying to beat his team, will have the record of 903 wins as a division I coach if Duke can overcome the Michigan State Spartans tonight.

Krzyzewski is currently tied with Bob Knight, who coached Krzyzewski when he played for army.

Duke has only missed the NCAA tournament 3 times since Krzyzewski has been the head coach and that isn't counting the one half of a season in 1994-95 he had to miss due to illness.

When it is all said and done, if he loses or wins tonight, it won't take long for him to reach 903. To me, he has already reached his greatest potential. The moment i saw him take USA basketball to gold medals in the Olympics, I knew this guy was a basketball genius.

He is in the ranks of a Pat Riley, Phil Jackson , a Joe Paterno without the scandal. He is Duke university.

As Small As A Giant : Austin Rivers

In a year full of forwards and center draft prospects, Duke freshman guard Austin Rivers, son of Celtics coach Doc Rivers, is my top NBA prospect this year. He stands at 6 feet 4 inches tall and was the number one high school basketball player in the nation.  His penetrating ability and 45 inch vertical leap will make him a one a done college basketball player.

This is becoming a repeating occurrence within college basketball players.  We have seen Kevin Durant, Tyreke Evans, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon , and John Wall show their college basketball skills for one year and make their mark in the NBA. What is next ? Can we see in the near future a middle school basketball player dominating NBA players in a street game?

I'll just stick with Austin Rivers being my top draft prospect. You be the judge. 

First Locked Out and Now........Divorce

After only 72 days and multiple episodes on reality television, Kris Humphries is now an unrestricted free agent in an NBA lockout and an unrestricted bachelor. 

In a perfect world, I would say I saw this coming.  In our world of harsh reality, I saw it coming as well.  Kim Kardashian, who is a model and reality TV star, has been known to date a couple of athletes back in her day.  She just so happen to marry this one, then divorce him.

Kardashian has dated wide receiver Miles Austin of the Dallas Cowboys and former New Orleans running back Reggie Bush.  Her sister Khloe is also one with the athletes as she is married to Lakers forward Lamar Odom.

As an unemployed basketball player, Humphries probably regrets signing a prenuptial agreement with Kardashian, whose net worth is $35 million.

According to TMZ, Humphries still wants to make it work, but we've seen situations like this with celebrities all the time.  Even when celebrity relationships look heaven sent, they still end.  Singers Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson were the epitome of that on their reality show.  Then again, we don't always know what happens beyond the camera.  As I saw, the relationship of Humphries and Kardashian wasn't too pretty.

With that said, at least Humphries, who averaged career highs in rebound and points last season, can have more time to work on his game. 

The Wade Era?

In a recent conversation on ESPN's 1st & 10, analysts Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless named their top NBA players and agreed that Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade is the best player in the NBA. 

For a long time, the "black mamba" Kobe Bryant was named the best player in the NBA.  He was the new Michael Jordan and the face of NBA superstars.  Times have changed and Dwyane Wade's Commendable skills have taken him out of the shadows.  I always believed that he was one of the most underrated players in the game and probably still is. As an undersized shooting guard, he dominates the game in a way Michael Jordan did, with acrobatic finishes and clutch performances. Call Smith and Bayless crazy, but I agree with their assertions.

ESPN and The True Hoops Network had LeBron James on the top of the list.

"It's pathetic that LeBron is No.1," said Smith. 

Just by the number, Wade qualifies to be called the best player. In eight years, he has career averages of 25 points, 2 steals, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds a game. He has also been titled the best blocking guard by multiple analysts.  He will probably go down as the best player to never win a regular season MVP. 

Wade has never won a regular season MVP but did lead the Miami Heat to a championship in 2006 against the Dallas Mavericks and was awarded with the playoffs MVP.  

Smith and Bayless both included Kobe Bryant and scoring champ Kevin Durant in the top five, but left out LeBron James because of his habit to become invisible in late-game situations. 

NBA Lockout Hero: George Cohen ??

The Associated Press reported that George Cohen, who was also the mediator of the NFL lockout will try to mediate the NBA dispute.

His position as the Director of Federal Mediation and Concilation Service has not even given me the slightest bit of hope for this lockout to end. Cohen does have a nice resume though, helping out in dispute with the Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, every sport and the individuals within these sports are different.

The players don't need another rich official telling them what they need to do. Let us be real. A lot of these players come from broke down homes and communities and have people to feed. They are also the ones putting those ticket buyers in the seats. No one goes to watch owners eat popcorn in the presedential seating. The players and owners are asking for 53 percent of the revenue. It is reasonable for the players to get that that 53 percent because they out number the owners by a billion.

According to Derrick Fisher and Dywane Wade, the players aren't to blame. The owners probably feel the same way. This dispute isn't going anywhere, but i feel one of the sides have to show that this game is not for the money. This is for the fans and the love of the game and it is time to give up the money.

Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman believes the players should just give up. He thinks most players don't even care for the game, just the money. I can help but think that "money makes the world go round."

Baller Turn Rapper: Brandon Bass

I have yet again found another NBA player that is pursuing a rap career during this lockout.  Orlando Magic Power Forward Brandon Bass is telling the people about his "Billion Dollar Dreams".  At this point in his career, he is no where near a billion dollars because he already lost his pay check for the first two weeks of the season.

Brandon Bass averaged a career high of 11 points and 6 rebounds a game for the Magic last season.  He is undersized but his athleticism makes up for what he lacks in height.  He has a nice mid-range jumper and a great build.  I can say his NBA game is better than his rhythmic poetry.